Class of '83
by MagicSwede1965
Summary: Leslie and her friends gather for some reminiscing. Follows 'Curlilocks and the Magic Mirror'.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _A sort of lighthearted "side trip" with a happy ending that I didn't expect till I was actually writing it. My thanks, as always, to PDXWiz, jtbwriter, Harry2, BishopT and Kyryn…  
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§ § § -- June 11, 2003

"All right," said Christian slowly, watching Leslie dressing, "let me see one more time if I can understand this. You and your friends finished your compulsory schooling twenty years ago, and now you're going to this…gathering of all the people who received their completion certificates at the same time you and your friends did." He paused, then corrected himself. "I mean, graduated…I always forget the English term."

"That's right, my love," said Leslie and smiled. "It's pretty much a nostalgia party. I don't imagine we'd normally do that sort of thing, but since we get students from the Air Force base on Coral Island, Father decided to set up the local school system in the American model. And as I recall it, Fantasy Island High's class of 1983 actually had more students from the base than the island. We don't get too many reunions like this, but it's the Coral Island students who decided to do this, and naturally they had to get hold of the Fantasy Island students and get them in on it." She grinned. "It got Michiko and even Frida to the island, so all us girls will be there, and that's really enough reunion for me. But we're all going to put in at least a token appearance, with our husbands, and then we'll have our own private party at the Okadas' place." Nick and Myeko, who had by far the largest yard, had volunteered to host a huge cookout for the girls' own reunion.

Christian considered that. "It's a strange custom," he remarked. "I've never heard of such a thing. And believe me, even if someone from my school in Sundborg came up with this same idea and carried it out, I don't think I'd go. Frankly, my Rose, you had a much better time of it in high school than I did."

Leslie smiled at him in the mirror and put an earring in one ear. "I won't argue with the strange-custom part, since I really wasn't too curious about finding out whatever happened to all the Coral Island students, or the guys who smoked pot behind the school outbuildings, or that girl from Mississippi who swore up and down that she was going to run away and finally did, a month before graduation." Christian laughed, and she snickered in response, putting in the other earring. "But, well, here we are. Like I said, for us it's going to be a token appearance, for the sake of the students from the military base, and then we're all heading for Nick and Myeko's. It was really nice of Anna-Kristina to agree to babysit all the kids." Even Jimmy and Camille's son David, the oldest of all Leslie's friends' children, had barely turned thirteen, and he had been resentful of the idea of spending his evening stuck with eleven other children rather than hanging out with his own friends. And though Haruko Miyamoto, who would celebrate her thirteenth birthday in August, had been eager to do the sitting, the adults had insisted there be someone older because of the smallest children. Jimmy and Camille had finally gotten the daughter they'd been trying for; born on May 14, Robin Omamara was the apple of her mother's eye. Anna-Kristina was thrilled at the thought of caring for the infant for a night, even though Camille was still leery of leaving her with a relative stranger. Fortunately, Jimmy had talked some sense into her.

"Nice, and perhaps a touch foolhardy," Christian said, sighing gently. "But if she and Mateo are really going ahead with their plan to adopt a Chinese baby, she may as well get all the experience she can." He crossed the room to stand behind Leslie while she was brushing her hair. "Trust me, my Rose, you're beautiful. You can stop primping."

Leslie laughed and put down the brush. "I know, you just want to get this over with, don't you? Okay, I guess I'm ready." She turned in his embrace and happily returned his hug, smiling up at him. "Don't worry, my darling, we're planning to stay maybe an hour at the absolute maximum. Camille and Myeko have been talking about sneaking into the school building from the gym and seeing if the classrooms are all still the same."

Christian let out a laugh. "That sounds like Camille and Myeko. All right, then, let's get going, so we don't make an unwanted entrance by arriving last."

In about twenty minutes they parked in front of the school, at which Christian gazed with curious interest. "Ah, so this is where it is." The building was set back from the Ring Road some little distance, just far enough to be hidden behind a stand of trees, and had a long curving drive to accommodate loading and unloading from school buses. "No wonder I never noticed it whenever I came down this way to get to the pineapple plantation. Which reminds me…how much longer is Mr. Roarke going to be in choosing new staff for it? Ever since that last earthshaking brawl down there, our business has fallen off by ten percent."

Leslie laughed, catching his hand as she met him near the steps to the main entrance. "Isn't that just a touch of exaggeration?" she teased him. "After all your complaining about that place, you ought to be jumping for joy."

"I don't jump for anything," Christian said, raising an eyebrow, which resulted merely in more laughter from her. He grinned. "Actually, I expect it's a good thing all around. More employment for local islanders, and a nearly guaranteed job for my niece."

"Exactly," Leslie agreed. "Let's go in—the girls are probably waiting, and they're going to want to get the latest scoop on the plantation." Just after Camille had given birth to Robin, there had been the brawl to end all brawls at the plantation, resulting in a fire that had burned the overseer's house right to the ground, nearly gotten to the offices, and eaten away at some one-fourth of the nearest field to the house. Roarke, fed up with the constant trouble, had stepped in and laid down new rules, and at the moment the plantation was quiet, except for the construction of a new overseer's residence. The plantation's computers were currently in storage at Christian's office in Amberville.

In the gym Christian and Leslie were spotted almost instantly by Leslie's friends, all of whom had arrived except for Michiko and Errico. The Enstads saw them waving madly, and crossed the floor to the table they had appropriated, taking two of the last four chairs. "About time you got here," Myeko teased. "What is it with royalty, always showing up late? Is it some sort of royal tradition to make a grand entrance?"

"If you think that was a grand entrance," Christian retorted good-naturedly, "then you need to appear at one of my niece Gabriella's royal Christmas balls. You'll never think of a 'grand entrance' the same way again." They all laughed; everyone knew that King Arnulf I had started the annual royal Christmas ball when Christian was just five, and Arnulf II and Gabriella had continued the tradition during their reigns.

"Besides," Leslie put in, "if you're really looking for a grand entrance, just wait for Errico to show up with Michiko. Errico's kind of flamboyant anyway, and being king, he's going to make sure he's seen when he gets here."

"I still don't see any particular reason for us to be here," said Grady Harding with a long sigh. "How many other graduates are bringing their spouses?"

"You never know, honey," Maureen said, patting his arm. "Cheer up, we're not going to be here all that long."

"Famous last words," Grady observed. The men laughed while their wives looked at one another and rolled their eyes, almost in unison.

Jimmy remarked, "Well, the longer we have to wait for Errico and Michiko, the longer we're going to be here anyway. I should've brought a cushion for this chair."

The gathering made wisecracks for a few more minutes, till Errico—looking more than a little bewildered—and Michiko finally did come in and claim the last two chairs, to happy greetings from the others. "I've asked Michiko to explain this to me at least five times," Errico said, staring around the gym, "and I still don't understand its purpose. In fact, the more I ask, the less I comprehend."

"Then stop asking," Michiko teased. She hugged Leslie and squeezed Christian's hand. "It's really good to see you two again. Are you all right, Christian?"

"Just sympathizing with His Majesty," Christian said, evoking laughter.

Errico grinned and shook hands with Christian. "My dear Prince Christian, always good to see you. You need not be so formal with me…I've told you on any number of occasions, we're both royalty. And of course, since I am not here in an official capacity, I daresay that for one night I can have a taste of life as a commoner. An intriguing novelty."

Michiko made a face. "He's just waiting for the cookout at your place, Myeko. Okay, so when is this thing supposed to actually start? All I see is people wandering around."

"Is there any coherence to this thing at all?" Fernando inquired. "That is to say, are you ladies simply supposed to mingle while we men wonder why we're here?"

The girls laughed. Of all their husbands, only Jimmy had attended school on the island, and he had graduated from Fantasy Island High five years before Camille had. There was in fact supposed to be a twenty-five-year reunion later in the month for his own graduating class, but he had decided he didn't feel like being there, particularly after being dragged to his wife's reunion party. And in their own group, Katsumi—who had lived in Japan until shortly before Christmas of 1996—was the only one who wasn't present, which had led to joking envy among the men.

"Actually," Tabitha said, "I heard there's supposed to be an MC for this thing, believe it or not. Probably one of the more gung-ho organizers of this whole thing."

"Ten to one it's Rae Ellen Moore," Myeko said. "She was the star in my drama class every single year."

"Isn't she the one from some southern state that ran away right before graduation?" asked Lauren.

Myeko laughed. "That's her!" she said.

"You mean she came back?" exclaimed Leslie in genuine surprise, and they all laughed then. "I'm serious," Leslie insisted, grinning. "Everyone heard about Rae Ellen running away, but nobody heard a word when she came back. And I never knew her, so it's not like I'd have noticed if she did."

"She was gone for two weeks," Myeko said, "and they caught her on the outskirts of San Bernardino, California, trying to hitch a ride east. After she made it that far from here, it sort of surprises me she didn't manage to get the rest of the way to Mississippi before the cops caught up with her. While she was gone, somebody in the class suggested a group of us get together and write a soap-opera parody of her life and put it on for extra credit, but Miss Kinau heard about it and put the kibosh on it." That generated more laughter, and for a while the girls talked about assorted classmates while their husbands got involved in their own conversations, predictably enough including sports for a while, before Brian asked Nick what was on the cookout menu and touched off a discussion about traditional cookout foods for the primary benefit of Errico and Christian.

After a while Christian checked his watch and sat up in his folding chair, catching Leslie's attention. "You said an hour maximum," he told her, "and half of that is gone. If no one has taken charge in the next ten minutes, I suggest we as a group cut our losses and get over to the Okadas' house."

Leslie grinned. "I'm starting to agree with you," she admitted. "Besides, so far I haven't seen anyone else I remember from—"

At this exact moment she was interrupted by a southern-accented voice from the stage, calling for attention and then announcing, "Welcome to the Fantasy Island High Class of 1983 reunion! I'm gonna call roll, and if you're here, let us know!" The woman on the stage began to call out names, in alphabetical order, from a stapled sheaf of papers, and the girls groaned softly.

"I knew it," muttered Myeko. "It's Rae Ellen all right. She must be a statistician or something—see her, checking off names if someone answers? She's keeping track of who showed up! I'm tempted to hide under the table."

"I'm tempted to answer to someone else's name," Camille said, and snickers ran around the table, even from the men this time. They were trying not to draw attention to themselves, since the noise level had dropped considerably.

"Well, never fear," said Tabitha comfortably. "I'm dead last on her list, thanks to my maiden name, so as soon as she calls my name, maybe we can get out of here."

"That's what tempts me," noted Christian, getting another laugh.

Fortunately it went quickly enough, since the woman onstage didn't ask for any more than confirmation of presence; eventually she called out, "Hamilton, Leslie Susan," and Leslie stuck her hand in the air. Rae Ellen beamed. "Awriiiiight! Ichino, Camille Lianne?"

"Yo," said Camille whimsically as she raised her own hand, generating laughter.

"Yo to you too," replied Rae Ellen. Myeko made a face.

"I forgot how cheery she always was," she muttered as Rae Ellen went on calling out names. "Now I remember why I couldn't stand her!"

"If she was so happy, then why did she run away?" wondered Frida.

"Because she was such a wonderful actress, she was faking all that happiness," Myeko said. "Listen, if we can stand it in here a little longer, I want to corner her and ask her if she ever did try to become a star in Hollywood, the way she used to claim, or if Mississippi was just too strong a draw."

"McCormick, Lauren Anne!" yelled Rae Ellen from onstage, and Lauren waved her hand in the air. "And is 'Moore, Rae Ellen' here? Anyone?"

"Bueller? Bueller?" muttered Camille, touching off an explosion of desperately muted laughter from the entire table, including Errico, Christian and even Frida's husband Klaus; they were all familiar with the movie to which she referred.

"Oh, I guess that's me," Rae Ellen chirped from the stage, and a collective groan arose from the entire room, evoking further snickers. "Oops, sorry, y'all. Okay then…" She went on calling names, utterly undaunted by the less-than-enthusiastic reception to her attempt at a joke. When she called, "Olsson, Frida Marie!" Frida at first didn't react, then belatedly put a hand up when Klaus nudged her.

"How come you didn't raise your hand? Forgot your own name?" Camille teased.

Frida smiled sheepishly. "Since I found my birth parents, I thought of myself as Frida Liljefors," she confessed, "and then I have called myself Frida Rosseby since I was married. I have not used the Olsson name since then. I didn't remember that this was the name I had when I finished school here."

"That makes sense," Camille agreed.

"Do you ever hear from Liselotta?" Christian asked her curiously.

"A little," said Frida. "My mother finally understood that our common ancestor is the grandmother of my grandmother. Our clan is quite large in fact."

"So I understand," Christian said and grinned. "If you had a family reunion, it would be large enough to take up the entire royal castle, I expect."

"I think you're right," Frida agreed, laughing.

"Sensei, Myeko!" Rae Ellen called out, and Myeko flapped a hand in the air.

"It's going quickly, at least," Errico murmured, looking grateful.

"Must've been a small class," Nick observed curiously.

Myeko nodded. "There were a little more than a hundred of us all told, so it shouldn't be too long before we can cut out of here…unless Rae Ellen's thought of some other method of torture to keep us hanging around."

"Tokita, Michiko," shouted Rae Ellen, and Michiko winced, then waved a hand in the air for a moment. "Our very own queen, y'all," Rae Ellen remarked brightly. "Tomai, Maureen Kathryn? You here, honey?"

Maureen raised her hand and snorted quietly, "Right here, sugar lips." Their entire table exploded with glee, getting odd looks from everyone else in the room, and Maureen turned red, pleading through her laughter, "For God's sake, don't explain it to them!"

"Why not? Rae Ellen'd probably love it," Myeko cackled. "She's almost done. Even if she does have something else in mind for this thing, I vote we leave anyway. We'll have a heck of a lot more fun at our house. Nick set up a sound system for us in the backyard, so we're going to have a real blast."

"Does that mean we have to sit around listening to 80s songs all night?" moaned Grady. "I hate 80s music."

"You can always go home," Maureen said sweetly, "and I'll bum a ride back with Christian and Leslie. Come on, Grady, be a sport—you're the one who said I had no excuse not to come to this thing, being conveniently on the island."

"Aw now, come on," Grady protested, just before Rae Ellen hollered, "Zuma, Tabitha!" Tabitha put a hand up, and then everyone at the table scraped back chairs, preparing to leave. The noise level promptly went up, despite Rae Ellen's attempts to quiet the throngs; she finally gave up and left the stage while their group was moving towards the door.

"Did you hear her call Cori Mukulani's name?" Camille was asking. "I saw Cori over in the corner. She's as big as ever, and I bet she's every bit as mean."

"I see her now," Leslie said, glancing into the corner where a profoundly overweight woman sat alone at a table, "and you should keep your voice down. I mean, just in case you turn out to be the next target of her short fuse."

"I have a better idea—let's just leave," Lauren said.

"I thought we were going to sneak in and check out the classrooms," Camille said.

Myeko laughed. "I forgot all about that. You think we could get away with it?"

"There's such a thing as too much nostalgia," Michiko put in, exchanging a grin with Leslie. "Wait till your kids are students here, and then you can see the classrooms all you want, through parent-teacher conferences."

Christian looked at his watch and then gave Leslie a surprised stare. "You were very close, my Rose," he remarked. "Fifty-four minutes."

Everyone stared at him, and Errico suddenly exploded with laughter that echoed up and down the otherwise-empty corridor. "A man after my own heart! As a royal, he's quite as allergic to large gatherings as I!"

"You're kidding!" Grady said and let out a crack of mirth. "Sorry, Christian, but I fail to see anything but humor in that. Being a prince, you must've been practically required to attend large gatherings, and I'm sure that's even more true of you, Your Majesty."

Christian grinned good-naturedly, while Errico, still chuckling, conceded, "You're quite correct, my dear sir. I am frequently required to attend large gatherings, on both a social and a professional scale. And in both, I encounter far too many pompous windbags, although to be perfectly honest, I fear they are more numerous in the government."

"I seem to recall my father and brother complaining about parliamentary follies and filibusters," Christian agreed, chuckling too. "Actually, life as a commoner is generally quite peaceful. You might try it sometime, Errico."

Errico nodded thoughtfully. "Something to look into with Mr. Roarke," he said, and Michiko rolled her eyes, which brought on more laughter as the group descended the steps from the school's main entrance. "Speaking of whom, how fares he these days?"

"He's well, as always," Leslie said. "Busy as ever, but I'm sure he'd appreciate the chance to visit with you. Does anyone need a ride? We have a couple empty seats."


	2. Chapter 2

§ § § -- June 11, 2003

Within half an hour all sixteen of them had gathered in the Okadas' backyard, and Myeko had a stack of CDs full of 80s songs ready to be rotated in the CD player through the night. Grady and Maureen resumed their half-serious spat over his dislike of the music of the era, till finally Nick broke in, "Hey, look, it's no problem to throw some other stuff in, if you'd rather. What's your preference, Grady?"

"Don't," Maureen put in before Grady could speak, while the others scattered around in chairs and made themselves comfortable. "This party has a certain theme to it, and since he insisted I be part of it, he can grin and bear it awhile."

"Oh, you guys aren't actually fighting, are you?" Leslie asked.

"Just over this," Maureen said and sighed. "Good grief, it bugs me sometimes. He puts up with that silly techno-dance stuff Brianna loves to listen to, but when it comes to the stuff I like, forget it. And Brianna's music is even more inane than ours was."

Christian studied Grady. "What _do_ you like, out of curiosity?"

"Big bands and jazz," Grady said. "Classy stuff. I guess you folks will just have to pardon me for being a stick in the mud, but I'm older by a good chunk of years than anyone else here. Most of the time we don't notice, but when it comes to certain pop-culture reminiscences, it occasionally leads to clashes."

"Well," Myeko said, having overheard all this, "tell you what, Grady. I'll see what's in the house, but no guarantees. Besides, the music is meant just as a background thing anyway, kind of setting up the atmosphere. I have a feeling you and the rest of the guys are going to find yourselves sitting through a lot of stupid stories about the stuff we did in school together."

"So there's your choice," Leslie said teasingly. "Stories that'll bore you, or music you can't stand. Aren't you just thrilled you decided to come to the party?" That touched off laughter, and Myeko headed into the house to get the music going while Grady and Maureen found seats and Nick got busy lighting the grill.

The evening drifted along with a great deal of laughter and talking, several conversations going simultaneously at any given moment, and tantalizing food smells drifting into the air. After a while, the men, who had been idly talking sports, TV programs, movies, sports, beer brands, cars and, of course, sports, noticed to their surprise that their wives had all congregated around the picnic table and were sharing all sorts of random memories from their high-school years. Grady and Christian looked at each other; Errico peered at each of the other men in turn; Nick checked his watch and mumbled something about getting the burgers off the grill; and Jimmy, Klaus, Brian and Fernando stared at their respective wives. Grady's, Errico's and Christian's gazes followed.

Finally Christian said, "I think it's time those women let us in on their fun. We have no idea how they all became so close-knit. Well, actually…" He grinned at Errico. "I do know the story of how Leslie met Michiko, as well as Lauren and Camille and Myeko, but the others I don't know about."

"Come to think of it, I have no idea how Maureen fell in with this motley crew," Grady agreed with a chuckle.

"Yeah, and I know for a fact that Tabbie didn't know them in high school," said Fernando, frowning in puzzlement. "How did she become so close that we're in on this little party? I can't imagine she'd be sharing stories of high-school hijinks with the others."

"Then," said Errico, "I suggest we crash their little party and ask some questions. And when we have learned how they became friends, I want to hear stories about some of the things they did. After all," and here he smirked at Christian, "there may come a time when we find it necessary to blackmail them for one reason or another."

"I had no idea you were so mercenary," Christian said, laughing. "Well, then, I'll do the honors here." At the other men's laughter, he got up and strolled to the picnic table, then casually sneaked a hand around Leslie's head and covered her mouth, causing men and women alike to burst out laughing. Leslie, for her part, tipped her head as far back as it would go to stare up at him.

"What was that for? I wasn't even talking," she said.

Christian grinned at her. "I think it's time you and the other ladies here gave up some of your dirty little secrets," he said, "and the other guys are of the same mind. So let's have it, and then we want some anecdotes. No holding back."

Leslie peered up at him while her friends looked at one another. "I am not very sure you wish to hear from me," Frida demurred. "Leslie and I were friends in the beginning, but I found a few other friends also, from the military base on Coral Island. I saw none of them at the school tonight, so I didn't miss anyone. But there will be fewer stories from me."

"And none at all from me," Tabitha admitted. "I knew only Michiko in high school, and not well—we were in the school choir together, and we really didn't speak much." She smiled suddenly. "At least, not till the time she handed me a party invitation out of the blue. That was the biggest and nicest surprise I had all through school."

The other men arose and drifted to the table, each standing behind his wife, while Nick finally emerged from the house with a large platter. "I hope I haven't missed anything," he said, glancing at the gathering. "I had a hard time finding this thing."

"Wasn't it where I left it?" Myeko asked.

"Well, yeah, but you had about three stacks of pots and pans on top of it, so it was hard to see at first," said Nick, evoking laughter. "Anybody want to help me load this up? Then we can eat while we're talking about whatever."

Within ten minutes the group had scattered around the large patio, some at the picnic table, others sitting in chairs balancing their plates on their laps, and all enjoying hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans and plenty of lemonade. "Good old-fashioned American barbecue," Nick said cheerfully, while Myeko set out bottles of ketchup, mustard, relish and barbecue sauce, along with a sectioned plate loaded with olives, pickles both sour and sweet, corn chips and potato chips, with a bowl of salsa on the side for the latter two items. "Dig in," Nick added. "There's ice cream for dessert later, and we have five different flavors in the hope of pleasing everybody."

Errico, Christian and Klaus compared a few notes on the difference of the food to what they were usually accustomed to, with Christian and Klaus making a couple of good-natured wisecracks at each other in their own languages, which bore the same relationship to each other as British and American English. Leslie and Frida looked at each other, and Frida leaned aside and whispered smugly to Leslie, "Don't worry, they cannot keep secrets. I can understand what they say, and I will tell you later so that Christian does not have an advantage over you." Leslie giggled with appreciation; then Frida smirked and added, "In the meantime you can startle them a little. Say only, _'Ni två får sluta'_. It means, 'You two can stop'." They grinned; then Leslie sat up and poked her husband, repeating Frida's words and smiling innocently at Christian's astonished stare.

"It's nothing, Your Highness, she cheated," Klaus said then, with a mischievous glance at Frida. "My wife told her what to say."

"Spoilsport," said Leslie accusingly, and they all laughed. "Look, if you guys really want to hear us reminisce, then you better be nice." Amid loud seconds from her friends, the men laughingly conceded, and the entire group settled back.

"What I want to know is," Grady said, "how you met this bunch, Maureen."

His wife looked at Leslie and grinned. "I met Leslie before any of the other girls, actually. It happened one Saturday night a couple weeks after Christmas break from school; we were in ninth grade, and there was supposed to be this big wedding…"

"It was part of a fantasy," Leslie put in. "This guy had been trying to marry his fiancée for two years, but he kept having stupid little accidents that stopped him. He finally came here to be sure he married her once and for all, and Father decided to go so far as to throw a bachelor party for him the night before the wedding day."

Maureen nodded. "Mom's catering service was providing the food for the party, and since Mr. Roarke had to be someplace else, Tattoo had to bring Leslie with him while he supervised the party. I was working for Mom—had been since I was ten actually—and once we finished setting up, Tattoo and Leslie showed up about ten minutes before all the bachelors started arriving…"

§ § § -- January 12, 1980

"Good, the caterers are all set to go," Tattoo noted. Fantasy Island had two catering services, but the larger one had been busy this weekend so that Tattoo had wound up calling the smaller, lesser-known one. It was a family-run business out of Amberville, and Tattoo spotted a girl around Leslie's age behind one of the buffet tables.

"That's not the usual caterer," Leslie said, scanning the tables. "Are they good?"

"Yes, we've used them for a few birthday parties," Tattoo said. "It's Tomai's Catering. Oh…I need to talk to the lady in charge. Just go and help yourself to something to eat—they know us." He walked quickly off, and Leslie hesitantly approached the nearly-completed buffet. There was a smaller table nearby, containing covered dishes and stacks of paper plates, along with a tray full of plastic cutlery. These were young bachelors, after all, Leslie decided, so it was probably wiser to have disposable utensils. In spite of Tattoo's words and the fact that she was quite hungry by now, she stopped where she was, unsure of herself.

Then the girl Tattoo had spotted a few minutes earlier came over to the small table to pick up one of the covered dishes, and stopped in surprise when she saw Leslie. She was a pretty girl with pale-blonde hair and startlingly green eyes, the color Leslie thought emeralds might be when lit from behind. Before Leslie could say anything, the other girl exclaimed, "Hey, you're Leslie Hamilton, aren't you?"

Leslie nodded, surprised at first, then realizing she was famous around the island simply because she was Roarke's ward. "Uh-huh. Do you work for the caterers?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah, my mother owns and operates the business, and I spend a lot of my weekends working. She pays me peanuts, but at least I have a savings account." Leslie grinned, and the girl giggled in response. "My name's Maureen Tomai, and I'm fourteen…I've seen you in the lunchroom at school. I think you're in my English class too. It's my favorite one because of all the literature. I love books—do you?"

Leslie nodded, eyes widening. "I'd have brought one with me this evening, but I forgot to check any out of the school library yesterday. But maybe now I don't need one."

Maureen laughed. "I'm glad you're here. This thing looks like a disaster waiting to happen—or at least, that's what my mother called it. She really hates doing bachelor parties because they always totally trash the place. After the first one we did, we couldn't find some of the silverware, and half the plates got broken. So now we always use paper plates and plastic utensils for bachelor parties."

Leslie heard Tattoo's voice in the near distance and looked around to see him speaking earnestly with a blonde woman, his hands waving energetically about. "Is that your mother? Tattoo looks like something's bothering him."

"Mom's English isn't the best in the world," Maureen admitted, sighing.

"Why's that?" Leslie asked curiously.

"Oh…well, my parents came from Romania. I'm told that they were close friends of people who were the worst enemies of Ceausescu, the dictator. When he became dictator in 1965, he had my parents' friends executed, and Mom and Dad realized they had no choice but to flee the country. They had to leave everything, including my two older brothers, who were teenagers then. At the time, Mom was expecting me. They applied to Mr. Roarke, and he allowed them to immigrate here, just in time for me to be born on Fantasy Island."

"Wow," said Leslie, impressed. "Lucky you."

Maureen shrugged. "In any case, Mom's English hasn't improved too much. I'm used to it, but then again, I've heard it all my life. Tattoo doesn't have that advantage. Come on, let's see if I have to play translator again."

The girls approached Tattoo and Mrs. Tomai, who were each clearly having trouble understanding the other. Mrs. Tomai's Romanian accent, Leslie found, was nearly as heavy as Tattoo's French one. Maureen cleared her throat. "Mom, calm down," she said. "Is there some kind of problem?"

"I'm only trying to ask her why there are paper plates and plastic forks and knives," Tattoo said. Maureen and Leslie looked at each other.

"How come that's a problem?" Leslie asked, then remembered something Tattoo had said earlier. "Oh, that's right—you were looking for a first-class wedding."

"Exactly," Tattoo said, looking exasperated. "But—"

"In the first place, it's the bachelors' party, not the actual wedding," Leslie said with emphasis. "And in the second place, these are guys who don't have any respect for anything—they're having a big single-guy thing before one of their number goes out to put on the old ball and chain." Maureen giggled at the heavy irony in Leslie's voice. "So there's going to be broken crockery, shattered glasses, lost silverware, maybe even food fights."

Tattoo scowled, then thought about it, his expression gradually clearing. "Well, yes, I guess I see your point. Good thinking, Leslie."

"Besides, like I told Leslie," Maureen put in, "that actually happened to us the first time we catered a bachelors' party. We never did find some of the silverware, you know, and it cost us a fortune in broken plates and glasses."

"Ah," Tattoo said, peering at her. "I hope you charged them for all the broken stuff."

Maureen grinned. "We sure did—twice what it actually cost to buy replacements. The guys were rude, too, every last one of them, so we figured they deserved it."

They all burst into laughter. "Okay, I understand your position," Tattoo said, still chuckling. "In that case, no problem. The party should be starting any minute now, so maybe you should get out of the way somewhere."

"Yes, Maureen," Mrs. Tomai interjected at that point. "I do not want to see you close to these men. Something terrible may happen to you. You ask Mr. Tattoo to find you a place where you are far away from them."

"I will, Mom," Maureen said and relayed the heavily-accented request to Tattoo, who surveyed the grounds for a moment and then seemed to spot something.

"I got it," he said. "Follow me, girls." Maureen and Leslie trailed him to an umbrella-shaded table set back far enough from the actual party site that the girls would probably go unnoticed. "This should be okay."

"What're we gonna do here all night?" Leslie asked.

"Bay at the moon, I guess," Maureen said playfully, and Leslie snickered.

Tattoo's eyes twinkled. "No, that's the bachelors' job," he cracked, and the girls burst out laughing. "First, you two go and get something to eat, so you can get in and out of there before those guys arrive. After that, you stay here. I'll see if someone can bring you some snacks and soda later on. And besides, you're not staying here all night—the boss would skin me alive if I let you do that, and I'm sure Maureen's mother would object too. You can watch the party for awhile, and if you get bored, you can play cards." So saying, he reached into a jacket pocket and dug out a deck of cards, which he slapped onto the table. "You can eat and drink what you want, as far as Maureen's parents will allow it—but you don't even think of touching the alcoholic stuff. That'd be worse than if I let you stay up all night." He rolled his eyes, and Leslie grinned.

"You don't have to worry," she said. "I can't stand the taste of beer anyway."

"Me either," Maureen agreed. "We'll just sit here and play Fish and War and Crazy Eights till it's time for us to go."

"Good enough," Tattoo agreed. "Okay, then, go have something to eat, and hurry up, because I see a few of them coming already. I'll check up on you when I can."

Maureen and Leslie went to the buffet and loaded up plates with as much as they could hold, then toted them back to the table and went back for drinks before settling down to enjoy their repast. They were just in time; once they had started to dig in, party guests began arriving in boisterous groups of four or five at a time, and before too long the party was in full swing. In the midst of eating, Maureen suddenly looked up. "Hey, I just thought of something. What if we have to use the bathroom?"

Leslie froze for a moment, processed this concept and finally shrugged. "We'll ask Tattoo next time he comes over here. Why, do you have to go right now?"

"No," said Maureen, "but it's gonna be a long night, if you get my drift."

Leslie giggled and nodded. "True. Well, once we get done, what do you want to play first? I don't know too many card games."

"I'll teach you gin rummy," Maureen promised. "Let's finish eating."

Four hours later the girls were yawning, tired of card games and bored silly by the ridiculous antics of the now-drunken bachelors. For a while, watching them stumble around and act like college frat boys on a tear had been entertaining; now the girls found it merely stultifying. "What time is it now?" Maureen wondered, yawning again.

Leslie spotted movement near the entrance and peered over her new friend's shoulder to see what it was. "Oh look, it's the big cake!" she exclaimed.

"What kind of cake?" Maureen mumbled sleepily. "Hope it's chocolate."

Leslie giggled. "Not an edible one, silly." She watched the large white-frosted confection, nearly Tattoo's height, being wheeled in on a small table and caught sight of Tattoo's white suit in an army of brightly colored Hawaiian shirts and dashikis. Maureen had propped her head on one arm and appeared to be half asleep already, but Leslie watched Tattoo intently as he stopped next to the table where Danny Collier was tilting back a bottle of beer; he listed in his chair, and there was a lampshade on the table. It was clear that his admonition to Ken Jason not to let him get drunk had fallen on deaf ears. Tattoo, however, chose to ignore Collier's intoxicated condition. "Mr. Collier?" he said, indicating the cake. "Here it is!"

Ken Jason sat up and grinned at the cake. "Whoa-ho, the big moment there, the big moment!" he exclaimed, hauling Collier out of his chair. "Come on, Dan, let's take a look and see what we got here. Not bad, not bad!" The cake had to be a good five feet in circumference at the top tier; tied in a bow around the upper portion of the second tier was a large red ribbon.

Collier, none too steady on his feet, peered curiously at the cake and then turned to Tattoo in sodden perplexity. "I thought cakes were for birthdays."

"Right," Tattoo said patiently, "but this is a Fantasy Island cake—a very special one. Why don't you pull the ribbon." He pointed at the red bow.

"Then what happens?" Collier asked.

"Pull the ribbon and find out!" a green-shirted man urged, and Jason grinned.

"C'mon, give it a little tug, Danny," he prompted, setting off a loud chorus of suggestions and urgings. The noise partially woke Maureen, who squinted in their direction and rubbed her chin.

"I wish they'd hurry up," she complained drowsily. "I've been up since six this morning and I'm ready to drop."

"Watch," Leslie said. "I think it's almost over now."

"Okay," Danny Collier agreed after a moment, took a couple of doddering steps to the cake and tugged on one end of the bow. Sure enough, a sweet-faced blonde in a skimpy blue strapless bikini burst through the top of the phony cake, spread her arms and called out a cheery greeting to the partiers.

"Oh geez," Maureen groaned. "One of _those_ cakes."

Wolf whistles and groans of appreciation rose into the air; the blonde stepped out of the cake with assistance, went to Collier and kissed him, evoking whoops and cheers. Maureen groaned aloud and let her head thud onto the table, startling Leslie's attention away from the party. "Hey, don't knock yourself out cold!" she exclaimed.

"I really hate this kind of thing," Maureen muttered. "I hope we're leaving soon."

"I think so," Leslie said, glancing toward the party again and seeing Tattoo coming in their direction. "Here comes Tattoo. Come on, wake up so you can leave."

Tattoo laughed at sight of Maureen. "Can't stay awake, huh?"

"I have to," Maureen grumbled. "I've gotta help Mom and the others pack up the food. I've been awake for eighteen hours straight and I can't keep my eyes open, but Mom won't let me get away with just crashing in the back seat of the car." She groaned and pushed herself to her feet. "Hey, Leslie, I'm glad we met. Do you think your friends would mind if I ate lunch with you at school on Monday?"

"No, there's always room at our table," Leslie said. "See you there."


	3. Chapter 3

§ § § -- June 11, 2003

Maureen grinned when she and Leslie finished their tale. "And that's all there is to it."

"Oh, come on," Grady scoffed. "You two didn't get dragged into the fantasy somehow? I don't think I believe that."

"First," Leslie informed him, "we were fourteen years old, and second, Tattoo made sure to keep an eye on us at least from a distance, so that we didn't leave our table and get noticed by all those drunken bachelors. Not only that, Maureen's mother was there, and if somehow Tattoo had gotten occupied with a problem, she'd have swooped in and beaten back any attackers. We were about as safe as we could be, under the circumstances."

"So did the fellow's fantasy come to fruition, then?" queried Errico.

"Yeah, I never did remember to ask," Maureen said.

Leslie laughed. "Remember the blonde girl who jumped out of the fake cake? It turned out that around three in the morning, Tattoo got rousted out of bed to be best man at an impulse wedding between her and the fantasizer. The guy spent all day Sunday trying to get unmarried, till he realized he'd actually fallen in love with her, and he decided to keep her. The original fiancée wound up marrying the fantasizer's jerk of a best friend." The entire gathering broke into laughter, and there was a short silence while a few of them got up to reload their plates, stock up on chips and salsa, or refill lemonade glasses. Myeko took the opportunity to dash in and change disks on the CD player, a five-disk job that was Nick's pride and joy, so that there would be fresh background music.

"Now, then, tell me how you became part of this group," Fernando suggested to Tabitha. "Something about a party invitation, you said?"

Tabitha smiled. "Well, I didn't become friends with Leslie till the fantasy I had about finding you again, and after that weekend she introduced me to the other girls. But as I said, I knew Michiko a little, since we were both in the school choir. It was in senior year, and I was just beginning to feel I could speak English well enough to try to begin making friends. But I kept procrastinating because of my shyness, and I fell back into my old habit of just going home from school each day, keeping to myself and trying to maintain decent grades. And then one day, out of nowhere, Michiko came up to me and handed me a small envelope. I asked her what it was, and she told me it was an invitation to Myeko's famous Halloween party. I'd never been so amazed in my life. I didn't even think anyone knew me to set aside an invitation for me. I asked Michiko to thank Myeko for me, and that was when Michiko told me it wasn't really Myeko I should be thanking."

"It wasn't, either," Myeko agreed sheepishly. "It never would've crossed my mind to invite someone I didn't know. It was Leslie who came up with the idea."

The men looked at one another, and Christian and Fernando exchanged a glance before Christian turned to Leslie. "What brought that on?"

"Something of a similar experience before I was orphaned," Leslie said. "For some reason, Michael had a problem with any of his daughters having friends. So when we first moved from Connecticut, we tried to make friends in secret, talked to other girls in school and so forth, but we couldn't really invite anyone home. Michael would've left jet trails going through the roof if we'd done that. The one exception was a girl up the street, one Cindy Lou Brooks. Anyway, after I was orphaned and forced to share Cindy Lou's room with her while we were waiting to hear whether Father got that lawyer's letter, some girl whose name I can't remember came up to me and invited me to a birthday party one Saturday in January. I told her I couldn't bring a present, but she said that didn't matter—she just wanted me to come and have a good time, because she knew I must be feeling like hell after losing everything the way I did. So I went, and I did have a good time."

"So that's what prompted you to come up with it," Michiko said.

Christian smiled and took her hand. "Did you finally meet Tabitha at the party?"

"None of us did, that was the kicker," Lauren said. "We all showed up—all eight of us who're here now. Leslie was the Invisible Girl—nobody'll ever forget that. And I seem to remember Frida coming as some sort of saint."

"Sankta Lucia, yes," Frida said and smiled.

"Oh, Halloween," Christian muttered. "My least favorite holiday." Everyone stared at him and began to laugh; Leslie squeezed his hand at their quizzical looks and promised to explain later. Christian grinned sheepishly and added, "My apologies. So what were the rest of you dressed as?"

Shrugs and headshakes went around the gathering and more laughter arose as a result, though Michiko said, "I think I went as a geisha. But Tabitha, what about you? I don't even know if you came, since we never met you."

Tabitha turned red. "I was dressed in native Aztec costume. Something my mother had salvaged from our village before it was razed and we were sent to the city when I was a child. But as I said, my English was still very shaky, and I was terrified of making a fool of myself. But I did meet another girl who could speak enough Spanish to communicate with me, and for the rest of the year she tutored me in English. I always meant to thank Leslie and Myeko and Michiko for going to the trouble, but somehow I never got around to it, till I decided to try to track down Fernando and wrote Leslie and Mr. Roarke about it."

"And by then," Leslie put in, "I'd long since forgotten I did that. So we finally did meet her, nearly ten years after the original party." They all laughed again.

"And what of you, then?" Christian asked Frida curiously. "You're another one whose story I don't know. How did you and Leslie meet?"

"I ran away from home," Frida said impishly, touching off yet more laughter. "Well, you see, I grew up thinking I was very strange, very bad somehow. I was adopted as a baby and didn't know where I came from, and my adoptive parents were abusive. They were also terrible, terrible smokers, and they both died when I was sixteen years old. I didn't want to be placed with someone else like them, so I sold everything I could, then bought plane tickets. They got me as far as Los Angeles, and after that I had to sneak onto a plane. To get a pass for the charter to Fantasy Island, I was forced to use the powers that I had learned to be ashamed of. Somehow Mr. Roarke found out that my name was extra on the passenger list…I don't know exactly how."

"I had a copy of the passenger manifest," Leslie explained, "and Father had the master. Frida had used her powers not only to get a pass, but also to see that her name was added onto the copy I got. Quite a few of the arrivals were immigrants, and he sent me out that day tracking them down with a message to see Father in his office. When I got back, it was after dark and Father wondered where I'd been, telling me I'd done a good job…and I was amazed, because I still hadn't found Frida. That's when he looked at the master and realized we must have had a stowaway."

Surprised nods and glances traveled around the group. "So then what?" asked Tabitha, eyes wide with curiosity.

"I wandered around the island until I found a large stone house," Frida explained, looking at the ground and turning pink. "It seemed to be empty, and I thought perhaps I could go in and sleep for a while. I even found a key behind a window shutter. I went upstairs, found a lot of bedrooms, chose one and slept for a little while…and then I woke up when I heard voices. I was terrified, and I hid in the closet. I think I slept again, but then I woke at night and I was very hungry. And I knew there were people in the house…I could hear a man snoring somewhere…"

Leslie giggled. "Probably Julie's brother-in-law," she remarked, making Frida grin. "I didn't mean to interrupt, go ahead."

"So I went to the kitchen and made myself some toast. Then I went back and hid in the closet again, and tried to sleep some more. It wasn't comfortable, but I didn't want to be found. Only, someone did find me. The next thing I remember is someone shaking me a little bit, and I looked at Leslie's face in the doorway."

"She was so scared she answered me in Swedish at first," Leslie remembered. "I had to ask if she spoke English, and that's when the story finally came out. We took her back to the main house, she talked with Father, and I persuaded him to let Frida share my room till the weekend was over. Then Julie came in with her idea about turning that house into a bed-and-breakfast inn, and when she heard about Frida's problem, she offered to let Frida live with her if she'd help out when the inn was opened."

"I started school then," Frida said, "and Leslie was my guide the first day, but I could see that I wasn't completely welcome."

Camille groaned and hid her face in her hands. "I was such a damn idiot back then," she said, shaking her head. "Long story short here, my older sister was raped by a Swedish exchange student during her first year at Harvard, and since Andrea and I were always close growing up, it was like it had happened to me. I went a little cuckoo for a few years, and it all blew up at the same party Leslie talked Myeko into inviting Tabitha to. I was blaming Frida just for being the same nationality that rapist was. I have a funny feeling Frida would have been a lot tighter with our group, if it hadn't been for me driving her off to make different friends." She met Frida's gaze across the patio. "I should have said this two decades ago, Frida, more than that even. I'm really, really sorry. I acted stupid, I treated you cruelly, and there was just no excuse for it."

Frida met Camille's gaze, and for a long moment everyone was silent. Then Frida smiled and got to her feet, going over to Camille and touching her arm. "I learned something, since I found my birth parents," she said softly. "I learned that my powers are nothing to be ashamed or frightened of, and I learned from my mother how to control them without the need to concentrate very carefully. I learned that I come from a whole family with powers like mine, and that I was not alone, as I always thought. And mostly, I learned to forgive, so I forgave you years ago. I hope we can be friends."

Camille stood up and hugged Frida. "I hope so too," she said shakily.

"Now that's what I call a reunion," Myeko said, and the others nodded and murmured agreement. "Hey…I just noticed, we ran out of music again! Grady, I found a Scott Joplin record in the back of the stereo cabinet, if you want me to put that on."

"Me and my big mouth," Grady groaned, and everyone laughed, dissolving the tension as Frida and Camille resumed their seats. The talk wandered on as the evening progressed, covering not just the girls' high-school years but many things that had happened since, as well as simple catching up and idle chatter. By the time the last batch of CDs had wound down, a few yawns had commenced, and the ice cream had long since been eaten; the men were partaking of assorted beer from Nick's stash, and the women were talking over piña coladas and, with the exceptions of Lauren and Leslie, bragging about their kids.

Then Errico announced unexpectedly, "This has been surprisingly enjoyable, and I did learn a few things about my wife that I never knew before. But I have it on very good authority that the babysitter may be highly fatigued by this time, and before she changes her mind about adopting her first child, I suggest that Michiko and I reclaim our little girl and find our way back to her parents' home. Nicholas and Myeko, you hosted a fine party, and I found it far preferable to the odd gathering at the school."

"Didn't we all," Christian remarked dryly, setting off a loud collective laugh.

"Glad we could give you a night's break," Nick said cheerfully, rising with the rest and bowing at Errico. "Don't protest, Your Majesty. I have a funny feeling your evening as a commoner is pretty much over, and if you don't get back to the Tokitas' place, your pumpkin will probably turn back into a golden coach…which would be just horrible."

Errico roared with laughter. "Now there's a man with a wonderful sense of humor! I shall be overjoyed to welcome you and your wife and children as honored guests in my palace, should you ever find yourselves planning a trip to Arcolos. After all, your wife and mine are friends, and it's simply good hospitality. As a matter of fact, the invitation is extended to all of you. And Prince Christian, you in particular have little excuse, for you know where the palace is."

Christian laughed. "So I do! And if the rooms are as large and comfortable as they were in 1964 when you and I met for the first time, I'll have to see what I can do about arranging for Leslie and me to come for a visit."

"Did we meet in 1964?" the king asked, looking astonished.

"Yes, we did," Christian assured him, amused. "I was six and you were three at the time, and my memories aren't the clearest they could be…so I'll forgive you for having none at all." Once again Errico laughed, shook hands with Christian and then with the other men in succession, and then took Michiko's hand and led her away to the car they had borrowed from Michiko's parents, calling back goodbyes.

As though it were a signal, the party slowly broke up, with Klaus and Frida, then Fernando and Tabitha, and finally Jimmy and Camille departing in Errico and Michiko's wake. Christian and Leslie, Grady and Maureen, and Brian and Lauren insisted on helping Nick and Myeko clear the patio, resulting in the work being finished far faster. Nick and Myeko still had to go and pick up their kids, so they left along with the others, with horns beeping as Brian and Lauren veered off toward their home and then Christian and Leslie continued on past the Apana house where the kids had spent the evening.

"So you see, that wasn't so bad after all," Leslie teased gently, patting Christian's arm.

"Only because we had the good sense not to linger at the main reunion," Christian retorted, "or what passed for it. Which actually reminds me of something. Was Cori Mukulani at the school's reunion?"

Leslie blinked at him. "Yes, she was—Camille and I saw her on our way out the door. How come?"

"I kept remembering that story you told me about how she tried to get you to start smoking," Christian admitted, "and I'd been thinking about finding her and confronting her with it."

"It's a good thing you didn't," Leslie said. "She's as big now as she was in school, so I have little doubt she could have squashed you without too much trouble, and then I'd have had to retaliate against her for your demise. Bad vibes all over the place."

Christian chuckled. "So where was she?"

"In a corner," said Leslie, "at a table by herself."

He shot her an astonished look. "You mean the woman who had to sit on two chairs? I noticed her coming in. Did she ever have any friends in school?"

"I don't know," Leslie said. "I never saw her hanging out with anyone. She had quite a reputation, and it had very little to do with her being overweight. Without a doubt, she had less control over her temper than anyone else I've ever known, and she was never friendly to anyone. In all honesty, I'm surprised she even showed up."

"I just didn't want her trying to give you another cigarette," Christian said, and Leslie giggled and tipped aside to kiss his cheek. "But no, you're right, it was a very enjoyable evening, and I learned a few new things about you."

She smiled. "The nicest part was seeing Frida and Camille finally fully accept each other after all this time. As Myeko said, that's what I call a reunion." Christian smiled in agreement and patted her thigh.  
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**A/N:** _Some lines in the flashback scene were taken from the episode "Unholy Wedlock / Elizabeth" (first story arc, from January 12, 1980), with David Cassidy as Danny Collier, Eddie Mekka as Ken Jason, and Misty Rowe as the blonde in the phony cake. Next up: Christian and Leslie get quite a shock._


End file.
